A few months back, our team was interviewed to handle the marketing and sales of Pioneer Square’s next condo project – Gridiron Condos. For those of you that have been around awhile, the project has a storied past. It was once referred to as Stadium Lofts. Located on 1st Ave in the Stadium District, Gridiron will offer 107 units including 60 studios, 38 (1) bedrooms, and 9 (2) bedroom units.

The building will offer a fitness center, rooftop terrace, bike storage, storage spaces and 8,500sf of ground floor retail. This is another round of good news for Seattle’s oldest neighborhood. With Weyerhaeuser moving in and some of the best Seattle restauranteurs going to Pioneer Square – who knows, in 5-10 years it might be Seattle’s hottest neighborhood. Here is a map we have put together showing the existing Pioneer Square condos available for purchase. According to the DJC, this would be the first for-sale housing project in the Square since 1985.

We took a quick look at the Downtown Seattle condo inventory this morning and put together a pie chart to show you guys the percentage of inventory in each price range. It was interesting to see that the 42% of our inventory in Downtown Seattle is priced over a $1,000,000. Looking for a bargain priced below $250,000? There are 3 units currently on the market.

By now you have probably heard of South Lake Union. It is one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in all of Seattle. Home to Amazon.com, the South Lake Union Transit and some of Seattle’s newest restaurants. Living in SLU is both convenient and rewarding. Check out this 1 bedroom, 1 bath at 2200 Westlake. The project that was built in 2006, is located at the epicenter of the neighborhood – Denny and Westlake. This particular unit, priced at $495,000 is 885 sq. ft. and has 3rd floor views. The project offers an abundance of amenities and conveniently has a Whole Foods on the ground floor. Walking down to Starbucks every morning wouldn’t be too bad, huh?

We have quite a few of our clients that live in the building and they love it.

Queen Anne is a staple in the city of Seattle. A neighborhood that is forever popular for both young and old. Check out this 2 bedroom, 1 bath at the Queen Anne High School condo renovation. It offers 1,019 sq. ft. of killer space. It has massive windows, vaulted ceilings and a view of the Space Needle.

Restaurants, Seattle coffee, taverns, food-carts and an easy commute. Sound appealing? Check out this 1 bedroom, 1 bath at 1111 East Pike. Known for its vibrant community Capitol Hill is home to some of the coolest lofts in the city. This Seattle loft comes equipped with a lofty space, 12 foot windows, chef’s kitchen and city views.

There were 59 Seattle condo sales last month in June. Total number of sales increased 5.3% when compared to May.

The average price per unit also increased jumping nearly 13% – bringing the average cost per square foot to $588 (vs $566 in May). The most fascinating element of all of this is that we only have 64 units for sale in DT Seattle. When you remove the new construction units currently marketed via the MLS, that brings our total active units for sale to 53. That is less than 1 months inventory – wow.

There are currently 34 condos priced over a $1,000,000 in Downtown Bellevue – compared to just 28 $1M condos in Seattle. These luxury Bellevue condos range in price from $1,000,000 to $3,195,000. From our perspective, it appears that there is some buying opportunity in the $1M-$1.5M range as there are 18 units priced within that range.

The greater Seattle area is still showing signs of a seller’s market but as you dissect pricing, certain price points prove to have opportunity as a buyer/investor. Things to look for as a buyer:

1. Crowded pricing – Look for an abundance of product in a tight pricing range.
2. Market times – What is the average market time? Is there opportunity based on an extended amount of days on market?
3. Lack of Financing – Look for projects facing litigation, where there are a limited number of banks willing to finance in that particular building.

Check out this South Lake Union penthouse that just sold in less than 48 hours (our team sold it!). It had 2 offers and went to an all cash buyer for $1,400,000 just 36 hours after hitting the market. It has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a large den. Featuring $100,000 in upgrades including Lutron Blinds, SONOS surround sound and custom lighting. Views include Space Needle, Lake Union, city lights and west facing views.

Here is a project to keep an eye on. The design review proposal is scheduled for June 23 at 7pm*. The proposal includes 2, 40 story towers and an 11-story podium building. It would total 812 apartments, 170 hotel units and 7,100sf of retail space. There would be 600 parking spaces as well.

The location of this project will get your attention. Its located on 6th Ave between Bell and Battery in the popular Denny Triangle. If that location sounds familiar, it should. Insignia Towers is being constructed right across the street. Insignia Towers is Downtown Seattle’s only condo project currently under-construction.

As you can see below, they will be slightly off-set from one another but it will clearly change the east facing views for the Insignia residents. Anyone buying any condo in the city should be aware of the buildings being built around them. It is just part of living in the city. We think the continued transformation of the Denny Triangle and South Lake Union is exciting. See below for a few more images of this proposed project.

Here are a few numbers to process this week. In the last 30 days there were 52 condos sold in Downtown Seattle.

There are only 81 units on the market right now in Downtown. 60 of those units are re-sale, leaving 21 new construction units currently on the MLS.

That is 1.5 months of inventory. Translation: (pricing your condo correctly and putting on the market = a condo sold). Until we out-pace demand with an abundance of supply, the Seattle condo bull-run should continue.

Luma, the new construction condo project located on First Hill is off a quick start. Per a press release last Friday, they have sold $12,000,000 in homes thus far. The first purchase and sale contracts were accepted on June 1st.

Out of 169 units, 16 units or more have sold – including 2 penthouse units. We’ve attached the NW floor plan on the 23rd floor. The asking price for #2304 was $1,759,950. It will be interesting to see if the two penthouse sales were made by a single buyer. There were rumors that all four penthouses were being considered in a single sale.

The 41 story apartment tower is going to add 430 units to the Denny/Westlake corridor. The new tower located at 9th and Lenora, will join Cirrus (see below) – another massive apartment tower which is near completion and is expected to get as much as $3.5-$4 per square foot in rent. Take a look below to see the biggest impacts on the surrounding Seattle condo towers (Enso, 2200 Westlake and Cosmopolitan).

In the last 14 days, there have been 27 condo sales in Downtown Seattle. Approximately half of those have gone for full price or more. Here a few examples of units going for more than their asking price:

We find ourselves in Downtown Seattle daily. Meeting with condo owners, showing available inventory or just enjoying the city like everyone else. What is fascinating is how quickly our city is growing. We have all heard the headlines about the Expedia move, the potential US headquarters for Alibaba, Facebook expansion and the rapid Amazon growth. So with that said, what does that all mean – in terms of growth. He is a breakdown with help from the DSA 2014 Development Guide:

By the end of 2014, Downtown Seattle had nearly $3.5B of total construction costs. According to the DSA, in 2014 there were 31 projects completed – with 56 projects under construction (all in downtown Seattle). In 2010, there were only 12 projects under construction. 65% of all projects under construction are residential real estate. Where 95% of those are apartments versus condo. Check out this graph by the DSA:

The blue represents the number of apartments built. The orange represents the number of projected apartments and the green represents condos. Whats amazing is that the green horizontal line shows the average number of deliveries over the last 10 years. In 2014 alone, there were 32 residential buildings under construction delivering a whopping 5,253 units. There are approximately 13,000 residential units currently in (pre-planning).

Where Are The Condos?

Well, that’s a pretty simple answer. There are just 2 Seattle condominium projects under development. Insignia Towers (Denny Triangle) and Luma (First Hill). Insignia is offering 707 units while Luma is 24 stories offering 169 unit. This graph shows the monumental shift from condos to apartment development coming out of the (“Great Recession”). (c/o DSA)

Hotel and Office

All those cranes you see in the Seattle skyline represent more than just apartments and condos. In fact, as of 2014, there were 14,000 hotel rooms under construction and 4.4 million square feet of office as well.

Seattle, Seattle, Seattle

There are a number of economists that predict that the bullrun in Seattle is only in the 5th or 6th inning. Obviously, as condo enthusiasts, we are watching the market intently. It is important to enjoy this time, invest wisely and also realize that all types of development is cyclical. Bull markets don’t last forever – lets just hope we continue to have great years ahead of us.

For those of you considering Luma on First Hill, they just released their pricing yesterday.

The building is offering a 168 units and they officially go on the market June 1st. The Public offering statement that provides detailed information about the project will be available for review on May 18th.

]]>http://www.urbancondospaces.com/last-week-in-luxury-seattle-condo-sales/feed/097 Downtown Seattle Condos For Sale, 28 of Them Are New Constructionhttp://www.urbancondospaces.com/97-downtown-seattle-condos-for-sale-28-of-them-are-new-construction/
http://www.urbancondospaces.com/97-downtown-seattle-condos-for-sale-28-of-them-are-new-construction/#respondTue, 05 May 2015 17:22:44 +0000http://www.urbancondospaces.com/?p=15391

Yes. You read that correctly. Downtown Seattle has just 97 units for sale – 28 of which are new construction (MLS Data). The available inventory ranges in price, starting at $180,000 all the way to $11,000,000.

We are going look back at this time in amazement at the lack of available units. It is quite unprecedented for a city like Seattle to have such a lack of available homes to pick from in one given area.**